Alexion Pharmaceuticals has announced the intention to acquire Synageva Biopharma. The deal is valued approx. $8,4 billion and should close by mid 2015.
Alexion will strengthen its global leadership in developing and commercializing transformative therapies for patients with devastating and rare diseases. The company expects to achieve annual cost synergies starting this year and growing to at least $150 million in 2017.
Synageva’s pipeline consists of protein therapeutic programs for rare diseases with unmet medical need. The company is planning for a global launch of sebelipase alfa for the treatment of LAL Deficiency and is dosing patients in a Phase 1/2 trial with its second program, SBC-103 for MPS IIIB. Eculizumab is Alexion’s treatment on the market for patients with PNH and aHUS, two debilitating, ultra-rare and life-threatening disorders caused by chronic uncontrolled complement activation.